Tiger Woods and the 6 best Major wins of the decade
By Orri Benatar
Rory McIlroy makes history in Merseyside (British Open 2014)
Most people tipped Rory McIlroy to be the best golfer in the world for much of the 2010s and he was for a long time. The young Northern Irish man won the U.S. Open in 2011 and the PGA the next year. Being from the UK, winning The Open would be McIlroy’s most significant achievement and he did just that at Royal Liverpool in 2014.
McIlroy led wire-to-wire and shot 17-under par for the tournament to win his third major before the age of 25, something only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods did before him. McIlroy was ruling golf in the first half of the decade and he continued his dominance by winning the PGA again at Valhalla just a month later. He hasn’t won a major since 2014 but I’m sure he’ll get a few more in his long career.
Koepka goes wire-to-wire at Bethpage (PGA 2019)
Brooks Koepka came out of nowhere to become the best golfer over the past two years and become a staple contender in every major he plays in. It started at Erin Hills where Koepka won the U.S. Open in 2017 and then he defended the U.S. Open at Shinnecock and won the PGA at Bellerive. So Koepka had won three of the last six majors and after Tiger’s win at Augusta, Koepka came back to win again.
His fourth major win in three years was his best as he blitzed through the incredibly tough Bethpage Black to capture the first PGA Championship in the month of May. He set the record for the lowest 36-hole score in major history, went wire-to-wire and is the only person to win back-to-back PGA Championships and U.S. Opens. Koepka finished among the top of the leaderboard in every major in 2019 and that should not end any time soon.
This decade of golf was a nice change of pace from the domination of Tiger. We saw McIlroy, Spieth, Koepka, Dustin Johnson and more put their names on the map as the games best players and they will still be there when Augusta hosts the 84th Masters next year.
Next. Irish eyes smile on Shane Lowry at the Open Championship. dark
The PGA will be in San Francisco at TPC Harding Park, the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in New York and The Open returns to Royal St. George’s in Sandwich.